March 20, 2008

New Bin Laden Video to be Released UPDATE: We Have Video UPDATE: Muhammad Cartoon Rant

Sticky, scroll down for new content

UPDATE: We have a copy of the video. UPDATE: Video can be downloaded here, courtesy of Laura Mansfield. UPDATE: Embedded video below. I had uploaded the video first to LiveLeak, but it got messed up somehow. Admin asked me to upload another version, but some one else beat me to the punch. Video below.

UPDATE: The video shows a static image of bin Laden with a voice over purporting to be of him all about the Mohammed cartoons controversy. This is the "new" speech by bin Laden on the 5th anniversary of the invasion of Iraq?

The Muhammad cartoons were first published in September of 2005!

There is literally no doubt in my mind now. This is an old audio, probably from 2006, of bin Laden. As Sahab must have been embarrassed that they had nothing to offer the world on this the anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, so they hurriedly released an old audio they had lying around. The fact that there was no accompanying banner is evidence that they threw this together last minute.

Case closed: Osama bin Laden is dead!

A rough translation of the video is below, expect English transcripts too.
UPDATE: About 2 minutes in bin Laden claims:

that despite your publishing of the insulting drawings, you haven't seen any reaction from the one and a half billion Muslims

No reaction?

Like I said, this is an OLD audio.

UPDATE: Okay, at about 3.5 minutes in, "bin Laden" brings up something more recent, the alleged covering up of embezzlement in an arms deal for Saudi Arabia in the al-Yamama scandal which is said to have involved a Saudi prince. The cover up, though, was alleged to have happened in December of 2006.

UPDATE: At about 4:20 bin Laden brings the Pope into it:

Then came the publishing of these drawings, which came in the framework of a new Crusade, in which the Pope of the Vatican has played a large, lengthy role. And all of that is confirmation on your part of the continuation of the war, as well as testing the Muslims and their religion...

When did the Pope reference the violence that ensued after the Muhammed cartoons? September 12, 2006.

UPDATE: The closest thing bin Laden says to something recent is a reference to Bush being "about to leave the White House" which people began talking about when? Like for the past year or more? Since the 2006 elections made his lame duck status really lame duck?

What's funny is that he rails against the U.S. for intentionally killing women and children, which he "testifies" that he has seen, and then compares that with the Mohammad cartoons. Which is worse? The Mo cartoons, of course!

Adam Raisman, senior analyst at the SITE Institute, a Washington-based group that monitors terror messages, said that the tape's release coincides with an increased buzz in online jihadi forums calling for revenge on Europe over the cartoons.

But Raisman noted that bin Laden's message did not specifically mention the republishing of the cartoons, only the publishing, and it did not give any other time landmarks to prove it had been recorded since then.

Raisman also noted bin Laden's silence on Wednesday's fifth anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

"The tape doesn't give any specific evidence that would allow us to determine when it was recorded," Raisman said.

Wow, and all these years I've been giving it away free......

Original post from before I saw the video below. Transcript at end of post.

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I don't see the animated image that usually accompanies as-Sahab produced al Qaeda videos yet, but I'll post it as soon as I find it. This is very unusual. The only thing I see is this, a text only announcement, which is not the usual method they announce upcoming videos/audios:

عاجل بعد قليل إن شاء الله

جديد (الجواب ماترون لا ما تسمعون )

للشيخ المحارب / أسامة بن لادن حفظه الل

It's notable that this is a "message" from "God's warrior, the Shiekh Osama bin Laden" is titled, "The Response Will Be What You See, Not What You Hear."

Prediction: no new video, only audio. In other words, still no proof of life.

The video should be released to the forums soon, but I expect it to be video in the sense that it's a static image with a voiceover appearance from a bin Ladenesque voice--not necessarily that of bin Laden.

UPDATE: Interesting question from Doc, proof of life from Adam Gadahn in this one?

Seriously, I've never seen an announcement like this one at al Qaeda's normal forum. Never. They always have some kind of animated banner. What it means is any one's guess.

UPDATE: Oddly, the password provided on the forums for the message does not work. Moreover, this does not look like a video at all. The largest .rar file is only 52 kbs, which means it has to be TEXT only.

Developing........

UPDATE: Nope, there was a text message in Arabic associated with the video.

UPDATE: Transcript:

In the name of Allah, the most compassionate, the most merciful.

To the intelligent ones in the European Union:

Peace be upon he who follows guidance.

This talk of mine is to you and concerns the insulting drawings andyour neglicgence in spite of the opportunity presented tpo take the necessary measures to prevent their being repeated.

To begin, I tell you: hostility between human beings is very old, but the intelligent ones among the nations in all eras have been keen to observe the etiquettes of dispute and the morals of fighting.

This is best for them as conflict is ever changing and war has its ups and downs.

However, you, in your conflict with us, have abandoned many of the morals of fighting in practice, even if you hold aloft its slogans in theory.

How it saddens us that you target our villages with your bombing: those modest mud villages which have collapsed onto our women and children.

You do that intentionally and I am witness to that.

All of this [you do] without right and in conformity with your oppressive ally who - along with his oppressive policies - is about to depart the White House.

And it is no longer hidden from you that these savage acts haven't ended the war, but rather increase our determination to cling to our right, avenge our people, and expel the invaders from our country.

And [you also know now] that these massacres are never erased from the memory of the peoples and the effects of this are not hidden.

Although our tragedy in your killing of our women and children is a very great one, it paled when you went overboard in your unbelief and freed yourselves of the etiquettes of dispute and fighting and went to the extent of publishing these insulting drawings.

This is the greater and more serious tragedy, and reckoning for it will be more severe.

And I bring your attention to a telling matter, which is that despite your publishing of the insulting drawings, you haven't seen any reaction from the one and a half billion Muslims, which includes an insult to the Prophet of Allah Jesus, the son of Mary (peace and prayers be upon him).

We believe in all of the Prophets (peace and prayers be upon them), and whoever detracts from or mocks any one of them is an apostate unbeliever.

And here it is worth pointing out that there is no need to use as an excuse the sacredness you accord freedom of expression and the sacredness of your laws and how you won't change them.

If so, then on what basis were American soldiers exempted from being subject to your laws on your land?

And on what basis do you suppress those who cast doubt on the statistics of an historical event

In addition, you know that there is one man who can put an end to these drawings, if it mattered to him: the crownless king in Riyadh who ordered your legal institutions to stop their investigations into the embezzlement of billions from the al-Yamamah deal, and Blair carried this out, and he is today your representative in the quartet.

To sum up, then, the laws of men which clash with the legislations of Allah the Most High are null and void, aren't sacred, and don't matter to us.

And in addition your practical stance towards the al-Yamamah deal requires you to admit that there are some values which are greater than your values.

In closing, I tell you: if there is no check on the freedom of your words, then let your hearts be open to the freedom of our actions.

And it is amazing and to make light of others that you talk about tolerance and peace at a time when your soldiers perpetrate murder even against the weak and oppressed in our countries.

Then came your publishing of these drawings, which came in the framework of a new Crusade in which the Pope of the Vatican has played a large, lengthy role.

And all of that is confirmation on your part of the continuation of the way as well as a testing of the Muslims in their religion: is the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) more beloved to them than themselves and their wealth?

The answer is what you see, not what you hear, and may our mothers be bereaved of us if we fail to help the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).